PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday he’s eager for a different kind of San Francisco 49ers offseason, one in which his squad is rested, practice attendance is high and there’s plenty of competition.

“Going into this season, going into OTAs, going into training camp, I do feel there will be as much competition on our team for starting spots as there has been in a while, especially on defense,” Shanahan said during the NFC coaches breakfast at The Breakers hotel in Palm Beach. “But we kind of want to create that everywhere. We haven’t had that for a while.”

The roster was so talented in recent years, Shanahan said, the 49ers went into drafts looking for depth rather than starters.

“I remember going into it (two) years ago and thought the only starting position we could find was a kicker — we were so solidified,” Shanahan said.

This year is different.

The 49ers spent March thinning their roster, taking special aim at higher-priced veterans and 30-something players. As a result, there’s plenty of work to do in the upcoming draft.

Shanahan hinted at the positions of need while discussing how linebacker Dre Greenlaw, the free agent the team most wanted to retain, got away on a three-year deal with the Denver Broncos.

Shanahan was asked why the 49ers didn’t strike a deal with Greenlaw before free agency when they were the only team allowed to negotiate with him.

“We tried to,” he said. “There’s negotiating tactics and everything. It’s also not just one player at a time. You’re working 20 things at a time — you’re trying to get a backup tackle, you’re trying to get a quarterback, you’re working on linebackers, you’re working on safeties, you’re working on all these positions.”

The 49ers were able to find a backup quarterback in Mac Jones. And they brought in a pair of free-agent safeties in Richie Grant and Jason Pinnock. The other positions mentioned — as well as some additional ones — remain either empty or light. Shanahan discussed those spots on Tuesday:

• Defensive line: This rose to the top of the draft to-do list after the team parted ways with 2024 Week 1 starters Javon Hargrave, Maliek Collins and Leonard Floyd last month. Shanahan said he was particularly excited about hiring Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator because he watched Saleh help rebuild the 49ers defensive line beginning in 2017.

“I went through it with him once before,” Shanahan said. “And we did a pretty good job at it. And we learned a lot going through it. And he’s only learned that much more having to do it again on another staff (the New York Jets).”

It should be noted that Shanahan, Saleh, et al., whiffed on their initial defensive revamp in 2017. The team drafted defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and linebacker Reuben Foster in the first round that year and neither played up to expectations. Foster, in fact, was kicked off the roster a year and a half after he was drafted.

Two years later, however, the 49ers boasted a far better line, one that featured Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Dee Ford. Shanahan on Tuesday called it “one of the best D-lines in the history of football.”

He said the goal is to eventually reach the level of that 2019 defense.

“When you look at our breakout year in ’19, that was the second year of a third-round pick in Fred Warner, the third year of a fifth-round pick in George Kittle and the first year of a fifth-round pick in Greenlaw,” he said. “Then I think it was the third year of a sixth-round pick in D.J. Jones. We had a lot of draft guys that we were able to work with and build.”

The 49ers used six draft picks on defensive linemen between 2017 and ’19. Look for them to take a similar approach later this month.

• Offensive line: The 49ers wanted to retain 2024 swing tackle Jaylon Moore but were not going to match the two-year, $30 million deal he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I knew we had a really good roster, but I didn’t know our swing tackle would make $15 million on the free-agent market,” general manager John Lynch said on Monday.

As it stands now, Spencer Burford, who until 2024 had solely been a guard in San Francisco, is the top swing-tackle candidate, though the team could add a player in the draft.

“He’s capable of playing really all the positions,” Shanahan said of Burford. “So it’s really where he can help us out the most and where he can get the most comfortable at.”

It didn’t sound as if guard and center were quite as high on the priority list. Though center Jake Brendel draws plenty of criticism outside the organization, he’s got support within it. Shanahan said he didn’t envision a competition for the starting spot between Brendel and Matt Hennessy, who signed in December.

“I think Jake’s up there (among the top centers) when it comes to his pass protection,” he said. “A lot of these guys get mismatched against head-up nose (tackles) and some of the D-tackles they’ve got to go against. I think Jake does protection as good as anyone in this league. And I think he’s always been a very good run player for us, too.”

He said Hennessy might be part of the competition with Ben Bartch and Nick Zakelj for the starting left guard spot Aaron Banks manned the last three seasons.

• Linebacker: Shanahan said Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune would be among the players vying for the weakside and strongside linebacker spots during the offseason. Like Lynch on Monday, Shanahan said Winters must be more consistent to win a starting role.

“I think he showed flashes of that last year,” Shanahan said. “He plays to our style, he loves to run and hit. I think he got a taste of that last year, now he’s working on his body. He’s got to stay healthy so he can play the way he does through a 17-game season. But he’s shown that potential, and we’ll bring in some competition here in the draft, hopefully. … There’s going to be a lot of open spots (at linebacker).”

• Running back: Shanahan praised 2024 rookie Isaac Guerendo, whose late-season emergence prompted the 49ers to trade Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings for a fifth-round pick.

“I was impressed with how tough he competed, how hard he ran,” Shanahan said. “I think he ran harder as the year went (on), which is a really good sign for guys. Because if you run less hard as the year goes on you’re probably not going to be running it too much in the future. I was impressed with the mentality he had.”

He also noted, however, that the 49ers have had to turn to their fourth-string running back in all but two of the seasons he’s been their head coach. As it stands now, the 49ers have Christian McCaffrey, Guerendo, Patrick Taylor Jr. and unproven Israel Abanikanda at the position. Look for them to add to the running back mix later this month, especially after McCaffrey and Guerendo were in and out of the lineup with injuries last season and Deebo Samuel, who often moonlighted as a running back, was traded.

“He’s gonna find a way to take care of his body so he can stay healthy and get through an NFL season,” Shanahan said of Guerendo. “I think the future’s bright for him.”

• Kicker: Though new special teams coordinator Brant Boyer is attending pro days and kicking camps this spring, Shanahan said Jake Moody’s offseason competition likely will come in the form of a veteran who’s signed following the draft.

Shanahan was asked how Moody, who was a strong practice kicker last year, can improve his game-day performances via a kicker competition.

“You have them compete every day in practice, you get the preseason games and that’s about all you can do,” he said. “But I think when you bring in a guy and you make it a serious competition — which it will be — and he knows he’s got to beat a veteran kicker out. As long as we bring in a guy who’s capable of taking that job and Jake respects him, that’s what puts pressure on him because you’ve got to respect the guy you’re going against.”

Shanahan insisted he’s optimistic about the upcoming season despite all the roster building that still must occur. At multiple points during his Tuesday session, he drew a distinction between previous Aprils when the 49ers were beat up, recuperating during spring practices and ruing a devastating postseason loss with the offseason program that begins in three weeks. He said it reminds him of how he felt in 2019.

“I want to go to work now more than I have in a long time,” he said. “I can’t wait for our players to get back. I feel like I’ve been away from them for too long. … I think we’ll have a hell of a turnout with all of our guys.”

Odds and ends

• Brock Purdy’s agent likely smiled on Tuesday at the way 49ers CEO Jed York described his client.

“When you find somebody who’s a top-10 quarterback that can help you continually win football games, you have to make that decision,” York said of committing to a massive contract extension with Purdy.

Figuring out how Purdy rates among NFL quarterbacks is at the root of ongoing negotiations. His new deal is expected to fetch between $50 and $60 million a year.

Though contract talks currently appear to be at a standstill, York struck an optimistic tone about completing a deal just as Lynch and Shanahan had done earlier.

“I think he’s great,” York said. “Especially when you combine him with Kyle (Shanahan) and you combine him with what we have, and he’s a heck of a quarterback. And we want him to be here for a long, long time.”

York ended the approximately 12-minute session with this: “I don’t negotiate contracts, but any conversations I’ve had with Brock personally have been great. I feel good. And when he’s ready, we’ll sit down and finish it. It shouldn’t be that hard to do.”

• York addressed reports the 49ers are interested in selling a 10 percent stake in the team. He said the Yorks routinely receive queries about selling part of the team and termed any potential sale a “family asset allocation decision” that will be discussed among family members.

“It’s just one of those things where if there’s an opportunity that makes sense, we would always explore that, but I’m not sure what we’re going to end up doing,” York said. “And if we do, we would try to find the right people who would help bolster everything that we’re doing in and around the team, on the field, off the field and just make sure that we have good partners that are with us.”

• Shanahan said “there’s a chance” receiver Brandon Aiyuk could return from his ACL injury early in the season. Aiyuk recently received a positive progress report from his surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“It’s too early in the process,” Shanahan said of a definitive timeline. “We’ll have to get closer to training camp (before) we see what that looks like.”

• The 49ers’ top free-agent acquisition may have been Luke Farrell, a little-known tight end who signed a three-year deal worth as much as $20.25 million. Shanahan said the team was trying to replace blocker Charlie Woerner, whom the Atlanta Falcons signed away in free agency a year ago.

He said Farrell was one of the better blockers in the league and was someone capable of handling defensive ends in pass protection.

“Kittle’s really good in pass protection,” Shanahan said. “But you don’t always want to use a guy in pass protection when he’s really good in routes and everything. So having another tight end with the length to block defensive ends is important.”

• Shanahan said tight ends coach Brian Fleury has been given the additional title of run game coordinator. Fleury and offensive line coach Chris Foerster have been designing the team’s run plays for the last two seasons.

(Top photo: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)